These days weather is changing as frequently as it could manage! It started getting cold, windy, cloudy and rainy ans sunny mornings are becoming a rare sight. It’s all giving me a warning alarm for winter. Before the winter strike us again, let me share this beautiful cake before the summer fruits and berries completely vanishes from the supermarket Aisle. I know it’s way past late to submit this recipe but I could still see blackberries in the shops, so If you could manage to grab some bake this cake. It would make you famous;).
Blackberries also called as ‘Brambles’ in the UK are deep purplish, soft berries that look like clusters of small juicy balls. Wild blackberries are generally smaller in size and tarter than the commercial ones which are really sweet . When i came across these for the first time, I thought they were something wild and inedible. All I did was plucking and squishing them to squirt out the purplish juice of of it. And this happned every time I came across them just for the fun of doing it. It was when I saw this gorgeous Blackberry cake prepared by Archana that I realised it was an edible berry. There were loads and loads of them growing wild in the bushes on the way to our local library and my son’s nursery and hence I get chance to pluck few of them every once in a while. As these grow on thorny bushes and there are quite a lot of spooky spiders all around, it was a bit of pain gathering them...There were quite a few peaches sitting in the fridge and quite a lot of wild blackberries which had to sacrifice their freshness in one way or the other. So I threw them into this cake and I am glad I did. As there was a get together that was to be held the very next week I thought of baking a bigger cake to take away for the potluck. Everyone who had a piece of the cake absolutely loved it!
The cake was super moist, perfectly balanced by all means, had the right amount of sweetness, and the crumble on the top gave it a light cookie-like bite. I loved the slight tartness that came through blackberries and the soft and sweet peaches in the cake. My son screamed “Jam” as he took in the first bite! I couldn’t wait for the cake to cool down completely before I cut them, so blackberries were very soft and almost like jam! You can see that in the picture. It had the perfect buttery cake base which was rich and fluffy at the same time. One of the best cakes I ever made! If I make this cake again, I would add more peaches, may be one more as I loved the peaches in the cake much. I personally hate peaches as they are, but when it comes to desserts and sweets, they are real good!!
If you don’t find blackberries try substituting them with raspberries, blueberries or chopped strawberries. I haven't done that, but if I were you, I would do that. And if berries are inaccessible, add 2 cups of peaches instead of berries and peaches. I am also looking forward to try the same recipe with apples, pineapples, plums etc.
Peach and Blackberry Crumble Cake
Serves 8-10
Baking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients:
100g soft unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon salt
220g (1 cup) granulated sugar
2 large eggs (133g)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (Maida)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup whole milk
½ Tablespoon vanilla essence
1 cup fresh and firm peach, cut into 8 segments and then halved. (1 large Peach, 140g)
1 heaped cup of fresh blackberries (160g)
1 ½ Tablespoon castor sugar
For Crumble:
45g cold butter, cubed
½ cup plain flour
3 Tablespoon granulated/castor sugar
A pinch of cinnamon powder
Preparation:
1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter an an 8 " deep round pan and line it with baking paper.
2.Prepare crumble Topping: In a bowl combine all the ingredients and rub using fingers well to get coarse breadcrumb like mixture. Keep it aside.
3. For the cake: Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. (I used wooden spoon for all mixing).
4. Combine flour, baking powder and salt (Avoid salt if using salted butter); add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well using a wooden spoon until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 inch pan, preferably spring form tin.
5. Top with sliced peaches and blackberries and scatter crumble topping all over.
6. Bake at 180°C for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack and Garnish with fresh blackberries and sliced peaches if desired.
Notes:
If blackberries are unavailable, just use peaches. Add an extra cup chopped of peaches substituting for the blackberries.
